Since the common availability of fabrics faced with adhesive filaments, particularly the hook and pile mating materials manufactured under the trademark VELCRO.RTM., there have been several game devices which take advantage of the adhesive filament material's ability to arrest and hold a projectile having a surface made of suitable mating material.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,374 (Yu) discloses a VELCRO.RTM. covered ball and a racquet with VELCRO.RTM. covering a cushioned face of the racquet head. The ball may be propelled by striking it with the bare solid face of the racquet, or caught by arresting the ball against the cushioned VELCRO.RTM. face, whereby the interlocking hooks of the VELCRO.RTM. material hold the ball to the racquet.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,161 discloses a toss and catch game using a cushioned bat covered by material having one filament of a mating filament pair and having a flexible handle, to catch and throw a ball covered with the other filament of the mating pair. The flexible handle and bat length are apparently necessary to develop enough bat speed to part the mating materials and propel the ball when the player suddenly stops the bat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,617 (Lee) discloses a catching mitt having a concave rigid frame with a cushioning material covered by VELCRO.RTM. as its pocket. The back side has a strap for holding the mitt on a player's hand. The game is played like throwing and catching a baseball, except that the player need not trap the ball in the center of the pocket or squeeze the mitt to trap the ball, since the VELCRO.RTM. covered ball will stick to the mitt if it touches any substantial portion of the VELCRO cushioning material. It is thus suited for small children. Adults playing the game are limited to the velocity and distance at they can throw a light ball.
German publication DE 3321343 Al discloses a plastic disc hiving an adhesive fabric on one surface to catch a ball covered with a mating fabric. The disc can have a handle in back or a handle like a tennis racquet, and is used to catch the ball similar to the use of the catchers mitt described above. It does not describe using the disc to propel the ball.
A relatively lightweight ball, such as a tennis ball or its equivalent, is difficult to throw with great speed or for great distance. Hence, participants using a bat or disc solely as a catching device will be limited to throw and catch type games. To create faster paced, more athletically challenging games which take advantage of adhesive filament material's ability to arrest and hold a projectile made of suitable mating material, it is necessary to increase the ball speed and distance of flight. One way to increase the ball speed and distances is to strike the ball with a rigid hand-paddle or racquet. This is essentially the advantage created by racquet and ball combination of U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,374, described above.
However, a solid-faced or rigid racquet requires that the ball be struck near the center, or "sweet spot" of the racquet face, for a smooth impact. If the ball is struck near the perimeter of the face, a jarring moment is transmitted along the handle into the wrist and elbow of the player. If the player is not strong enough to resist this moment, the racquet may twist and return the ball off-line. Prolonged use may cause wrist or elbow inflammation, particularity in young children.
It is known that resilient or flexible striking surfaces tend to alleviate this problem. For example, wooden-frame and more loosely-strung tennis racquets are known to transmit less twisting moment from an off-center hit than a metal-framed tightly-strung racquet.
However, with the prior art racquets and mitts described above for use with VELCRO.RTM.-covered balls and catching surfaces, it has been customary to make the catching surface resilient, not the striking surface. Hence, one object of the invention is to provide a racquet with a resilient striking surface.
Another object of the invention is to increase the noise produced by the impact of the racquet against the ball. Games of this type are popular on beaches and around swimming pools, where the ability to attract the attention of spectators and by-passers is at least as valued as any perceived aerobic or recreational value of the sport.
These objectives are accomplished by the following racquet.